Deep within the Secret Realm of the Abyss Order's base,
The Ice Abyss Mage floated back leisurely towards the base, its elemental shield cracked and crumbling.
Suddenly, a mocking voice echoed from the side, "Tsk tsk, isn't this the Ice Mage? How did a little outing leave you in such a sorry state?"
It was a Water Abyss Mage speaking, reclining in the air with one hand supporting its head, similarly shielded by an elemental shield.
"Hmph, I encountered the Acting Grand Master of the Knights, almost didn't make it back," the Ice Abyss Mage snorted, making no mention of initiating the conflict themselves.
"Oh, no wonder!" The Water Abyss Mage didn't seem surprised either, knowing that even the Abyss Herald of the Order couldn't guarantee victory against the Acting Grand Master. "What about the Pyro Mage, then? What's its status?"
It continued to ask.
According to the Abyss Order's plan, their base in the Whispering Woods needed to exploit Mondstadt's exhaustion after dealing with the recent Stormterror's disaster. This would allow them to launch an attack and invade.
The Rock Shieldwall Mitachurl and its tribe of Hilichurls were the main force of this attack, or one could say, they were the cannon fodder.
In reality, there was no intention of truly capturing Mondstadt.
All this was merely preparation for the Abyss Order's future all-out attack on Mondstadt, aimed at gradually depleting the forces of the Knights of Favonius.
When the final assault came, it would be more successful.
This strategy was part of the Abyss Order's primary method to eradicate surface civilizations. Direct confrontation was out of the question.
Instead, they relied on periodic Hilichurl attacks to harass and create chaos in these nations.
They acted like venomous snakes lurking in the shadows, waiting for the day when a nation showed significant weakness.
Then, the Abyss Order would launch a full-scale assault and annihilate that nation!
This strategy was internally referred to as the "Chronic Death Plan of Surface Civilizations," explaining why Abyss Mages appeared in all corners of Teyvat Continent.
After all, without the Abyss Order organizing and supplying them from behind the scenes, these Hilichurls would be doing little more than raiding passing merchant caravans.
All of this required the Abyss Order to lead from behind the scenes.
"I don't know, haven't find them."
The Ice Abyss Mage shook its head.
Without the Rock Shieldwall Mitachurl, which served as their recent primary annoyance to Mondstadt, the plan would be impossible to implement.
They couldn't just let them do it on their own, as these cunning Abyss Mages knew better than to engage in such suicidal actions!
In reality, it was mainly because the sounds from the outside world couldn't be heard within the Secret Realm. Otherwise, the loud explosion of the alchemical bomb yesterday would have certainly caught their attention.
And the Whispering Woods is also very vast, so it's normal that the Ice Abyss Mage hadn't yet discovered their bodies.
"Hmph, if they can't be found, something must have happened to them. Didn't you say you encountered the Acting Grand Master of the Knights? Perhaps the two of them were sent back to the Abyss's embrace by her."
The Water Abyss Mage, still reclining in the air, said with a hint of resignation.
"So what do we do? If we don't harass Mondstadt in the next couple of days, the Herald will surely blame us."
The Ice Abyss Mage looked troubled.
"Hmm, that is a problem," the Water Abyss Mage said, tapping its fingers in the air thoughtfully. After a few seconds, it continued, "We'll just send the Hilichurls from the base to attack Mondstadt City and expend them. When the Herald asks, we can simply say we've completed our mission. Heh."
It felt smug about its plan.
The Ice Abyss Mage's eyes gleamed behind its mask at this suggestion. It was indeed a good idea.
"Too bad, you no longer have the chance!"
Just as the two Abyss Mages were about to summon the Hilichurls to attack Mondstadt, a stern voice rang out from outside.
Guided by the wind elemental mark, Nolan and Acting Grand Master Jean had been nearby for some time.
They had overheard the conversation and learned of the Abyss Order's plot.
Naturally, they aimed to nip this crisis in the bud.
As Jean spoke, a cyan whirlwind silently gathered around them and instantly struck the Ice Abyss Mage's elemental shield, causing the ice elements to scatter widely.
In the distance, the Water Abyss Mage, reclining lazily in the void, hadn't properly held onto its staff, and was completely unable to dodge the spreading ice elements. It was directly frozen.
This was a clear case of one teammate sabotaging another, purely out of carelessness.
Nolan also shot arrows with wind elemental attachments at the Ice Abyss Mage's elemental shield, maintaining the spread of ice elements.
During this process, the elemental shields of both Abyss Mages continued to deplete.
The only Ice Abyss Mage still capable of movement sensed trouble. Just as it was about to flee, a fire elemental arrow suddenly emerged from space, shattering its already precarious ice elemental shield.
Subsequently, magical backlash followed as expected, causing the Ice Abyss Mage to fall into a dazed state, then being knocked away by Jean's Hurricane.
[Defeated A Powerful Enemy, Obtained 3890 Adventure EXP.]
Since the final blow to break the shield was delivered by Nolan, he received all the Adventure EXP for defeating the level sixty-plus Abyss Mage.
As the Ice Abyss Mage fell unconscious, unable to continue spreading ice elements without its shield, the nearby Water Abyss Mage slowly thawed from its frozen state.
Its elemental shield had become extremely weak, on the verge of breaking.
"Damn humans, how did you find this place!"
The Water Abyss Mage immediately teleported away from its original position, reappearing further back with an angry tone.
"Of course, it's because your Pyro Mage companion has already joined our Knights of Favonius and spilled everything," Nolan teased with amusement.
"Bastard, that's impossible!"
The Water Abyss Mage didn't believe this human's words. As Abyss monsters, they were naturally enemies of humans and couldn't possibly join them.
However, it was infuriated by Nolan's remarks.
With a weak and small hand holding the staff, it waved, and endless water elements surged forth, forming a tsunami-like wave crashing towards Nolan and Jean.
In response, Jean extended her right hand, revealing fair skin, and lightly pressed in the void.
A swiftly rotating cyclone enveloped the two, acting as a barrier.
"Whoosh!" The mini-tsunami clashed with the cyclone, then spun away like a gyroscope, flinging water elements.
If the Water Mage were powerful enough, these waters might continuously consume the cyclone's energy and eventually submerge it.
Unfortunately, being roughly on par with the Ice Abyss Mage in strength, it still fell short compared to Acting Grand Master Jean.
At this moment, both sides couldn't see each other due to the water obstruction. Nolan vaguely remembered the direction where the Water Abyss Mage was.
Therefore, he attached fire elemental to his arrows again and shot another arrow in that direction.
The arrow entered space, ignoring the obstacles of the whirlwind and tsunami, appeared directly in front of the Water Abyss Mage.
(End of Chapter)
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